"happening now." jenna: hi, everybody, great to have you with us on this friday, i'm jenna lee. two major developments in the wake of the murders of four americans in libya on september 11th. jon: i'm jon scott. sourcers telling fox news that the terror attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi might have been part of a broader effort to drive out american and the western presence from libya. these sources telling fox that scores of security insurance tkepblts prior to 9/11, including some on western targets in the benghazi area indicated a possible ominous pattern. also new "associated press" report says the cia station chief in libya let washington know within 24 hours of that murder raid that terrorists were behind it. that would contradict the spontaneous attack theory pressed by some in obama administration officials for

several days after the incident. chief washington correspondent james rosen has breaking details on that. >> reporter: with these latest disclosures and with president obama's appearance on the daily show last night the mystery of what he and his aides knew about benghazi and when has only deep end. the show's host liberal comedian jon stewart asked about the administration's confusion over what had happened. the president supplied the u.s. government is a big operation and in overseas crises like this. quote, a whole bunch of intelligence starts coming in and you try to piece together exactly what happened. >> what i have always tried to do is to make sure that we just get all the facts, figure out what went wrong, and make sure it doesn't happen again. and we are still in that process now. but everything that -- every piece of information that we get, as we got it we laid it out for the american people. >> reporter: but the obama administration did not layout every piece of information as it was a received, not until a house hearing held a month after

the attacks, for example, did we learn that assistant secretary of state charlene lamb who oversees diplomatic security was in touch in realtime with the ambassador in benghazi who reported to her dozens of heavily armed man and called it an attack. it was never the department's conclusion that these murder glu grew out of a spontaneous protest. senior officials declined to layout every piece of information for the american people even this week, as the president claimed. >> i am not from this podium going to quit into an get into any of these details of arrests or prosecutions or any of this it. we'll leave it to the fbi as they work with the libyans to both investigate -- obviously we are committed to insuring that those who did this are going to come to justice. >> reporter: in advance of monday night's third and final presidential debate to be focused exclusively on foreign policy fox news has learned

house lawmakers will soon be disclosing significant details on this case through the release of previously unpublished classified documents, jon and jen a. jon: it will be interesting to see what those contain. james rosen at the state department. thank you. coming up minutes from now we will get reaction from this report as to what the cia knew and how it was rye laid to washington from covert operations office every mike baker. he will join us. jenna: a lot of blame and finger pointing. we'll see what he has to say about that. the candidates getting back to the campaign trail as they prepare for the third and final debate on monday. the president is set to speak at a ral her rally in fairfax, virginia, a very important swing state there. and there is a big focus on florida. governor mitt romney, paul ryan and joe biden in that state battling over a massive haul of 29 electoral votes.

the "real clear politics" average of polls showing mitt romney with a slight lead over the president in that state of florida. also in florida an investigation underway into possible voter registration fraud. authorities looking into whether or not several team voted in both florida and ohio, or both florida and rhode island in previous elections. steve harrigan is live in miami with more on this. steve, where does this investigation stand? >> reporter: well, jenna, it was a watchdog organization that really brought this to the attention initially to florida state officials. they claim 36 people voted in florida and a second state during recent federal elections at the same time. of the 36 names so far florida officials say they've found enough evidence on two of those names to turn that information over to law enforcement, but they will continue to review the other 34 cases, jenna. jenna: is there anything that makes florida in particular susceptible to double voting?

>> reporter: people who are concerned about the potential for double voting in florida cite the fact this a lot of people have second homes here, they could use absentee ballots. also florida, unlike 20 other states is not a part of any national database sharing on voter registration, jenna. jenna: interesting. so interesting to learn about just a couple of weeks away from the election. steve, thank you. jon: taking a break from the rough-and-tumble of the campaign trail to have a few laughs. president obama and governor mitt romney last night sharing the stage at the annual al smith dinner in smoke trading one liners and zingers. here is press. >> as some of you may have noticed i had a lot more energy in our second debate. i was really well rested after the nice long nap i had in the first debate. i particularly want to apologize to chris matthews. [laughter] >> four years ago i gave him a thrill up his leg, this time around i gave him a stroke.

[laughter] >> of course there are a lot of things i learned from that experience. for example, i learned that there are worse things that can happen to you on your anniversary than for getting to buy a gift. [laughter] >> of course the economy is on everybody's minds. the unemployment rate is at the slowest level since i took office. i don't have a joke here, i just thought it would be useful to remind everybody that the unemployment rate is the lowest it's been since i took office. [laughter] >> ultimately tonight it's not about the disagreements governor romney and i may have. it's what we have in common, beginning with our unusual names. actually mitt is his middle name. i wish i could use my middle name. [laughter] jon: the al smith dinner always hilarious. governor romney not to be out down. >> i was hoping the president would bring joe biden along this

evening. because he'll laugh at anything. don't be surprised if the president mentions this evening the monthly jobs report where there was a slight improvement in the numbers, he knows how to seize the moment this president, and already has a compelling new campaign slogan. you're better off now than you were four weeks ago. [laughter] >> people seem to be very curious as to how we prepare for the debates. let me tell you what i do. first, refrain from alcohol for 65 years before the debate. [laughter] >> second, find the biggest available straw man and then news mercilessly attack it. big bird didn't even see it coming. [laughter] >> by the way in the sp*eurt of sesame street the president's remarks tonight are brought to you by the o and the 16 trillion. >> i would never suggest the press is biased. they have their job to do, i have my job to do. my job is to layout a positive

vision for the country and their job is to make sure nobody tpaoeupbltdz out about it. i've seen early reports from tonight's dinner. headline, obama embraced by catholics. romney dines with rich people. jon: all joking aeu hide the al smith dinner sponsored by the archdiocese of new york has a serious purpose raising money for childrens charities. jenna: who writes that stuff? jon: i don't know. it's a funny event. jenna: don'ts you wish all speeches could be like that. i do. jon: there is serious news going on in the country. jenna: there is serious news. we will get to many headlines throughout the next couple of hours. president obama and mitt romney are kicking their campaigns into over drive. election day is right around the corner. we'll show you where they are putting their focus and how things will stack up if the election were held today. we are not far away, are we? threats to u.s. interests gaining attention on the

campaign trail in light of recent terror plots. we'll take a look at organized threats around the world and what the united states is doing to stop them. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. just begin with america's favorite soups. bring out chicken broccoli alfredo. or best-ever meatloaf. go to campbellskitchen.com for recipes, plus a valuable coupon. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

jon: well the presidential nominees are picking up the pace with the third debate around the corner just 18 days to go now until election day. president obama and governor romney making their final push in key battleground states like florida, and virginia. and this race could not be tighter. the latest "real clear politics" electoral map shows the president with 201 electoral votes pretty much locked up. mitt romney with 206, and 131 still in the toss up column. where do they end up. let's talk with shane deapril

the editor of elections magazine. any of these states that have gone one way or the other? >> what you're starting to see is some of these states slip away from one candidate or another. we are at the position in the race right now where both campaigns have to take a hard, strategic look at where they will spend your resources and time in the next couple of weeks. the answers to those questions are going to tell us a lot about what each campaign is thinking strategically. we've seen polling in the last couple of weeks or last week and a half that suggests that perhaps mitt romney is pulling close in a state like pennsylvania. there is no signs they'll make a real play for that state. those are the kind of hard decisions you have to make right now. i think president obama has to look at a state like north carolina and have a similar calculation. while the president's campaign has been confident about that state, which they won in 2008, there has been poll after poll

that shows mitt romney with a solid lead. so, you know, why waste resource, why waste time in that state when you've got eight or nine other states that are going to decide this thing? those are the sorts of strategic decision has both campaigns are making right now. they could change by the day. jon: president obama carried north carolina by 14,000 votes over john mccain, but it doesn't look like he's going to be able to repeat that, despite the fact that the democrats held their convention there. >> right, that's where you've got to do some of the electoral math, jon and you look at florida, virginia, ohio, depending on which way those three states go, that says a lot about whether some of the states that are smaller, in terms of electoral votes, a state like new hampshire which has just got four votes, but you've seen president obama just in new hampshire, mitt romney has spent a lot of time, both campaigns have spent a lot of money on television ads there really fighting for four electoral votes. depending on which way the

biggie electorial vote rich states swing it could make a state like new hampshire potentially the decider. there is is real fun math over the last couple of weeks. jon: we are potentially in a bush v gore where mitt romney has the lead. but in the electoral college president obama seems to have a lock on more states at this point. >> right, there is no doubt there is a possibility that mitt romney can win the popular vote and lose the electoral college, simply because the electoral college map as it stands right now president obama has more paths to 270 than mitt romney when you do the numbers. the same thing that is happening in ohio, mitt romney has made gains in a lot of other swing states, has moved the needle over the past couple of weeks. in ohio president obama has stubbornly hung on to the lead he's had for so long. it's going to be a question in

the last couple of weeks of what the romney campaign does to try to turn that around in ohio, are they going to spend more money, are they going to spend more time because those 18 electoral votes are going to be so crucial. jon: you said the states where they are spending money, the campaigns, that tells you a lot because that tells you whether the campaigns feel that they can win those states or not. for instance you say the romney campaign is really not spending money in pennsylvania even though the polls are tightening there. what about wisconsin? >> yeah, wisconsin is clearly a state that the romney campaign thinks it can make some inch roads and actually make competitive on november 6th. it also tells you -- not just their strategicbut it also gives you a sense of what their internal polling is telling them. clearly the romney campaign has got some internal numbers that suggest that they could put wisconsin in play, and based on what we are seeing them spend resource wise in a state like wisconsin versus pennsylvania it's pretty clear that they are seeing numbers more favorable in

wisconsin. again, all of this is so fluid over the last few weeks of a race, and where they add that money to the television schedule is going to tell us a heck of a lot about where these campaigns think they've got the best chance to win these electoral votes. jon: nail biting time in boston and that's for sure. thank you. jenna: a 21-year-old coffee barista missing since tuesday. the latest on the search for the starbucks employee who never made it to work. for so much of this election cycle we've heard the old refrain, it's the economy, stupid, but on monday the third and final presidential debate will focus on foreign policy. with so much unrest in the world today, what is the most important issue that we should want to hear about? what does each candidate need to say? we will ask a man who has advised six secretaries of state, next.

jon: right now, police in oregon are searching for a 21-year-old coffee shop barista missing since tuesday. harris faulkner has the latest on the search. >> reporter: whitney hichell worked stardom bucks, a five-minute drive from her home. police have talked to her husband, he said she kissed him goodbye and didn't make it to work. they are calling her disappearance suspicious. her ford explorer turned up in a parking lot a few miles from her home. police say the passenger side window was smashed and the tires muddy. the case has 24 detectives working on it. so far they say the mud found on the tires could come from an area each of gretchen, they are looking there. they also searched the parks which included river banks, nothing has turned up, no whitney. they say her atm card was used

tuesday morning at a gas station, a shell station. they have surveillance video of her suv from that shell station. one thing police are reportedly looking at today is the three-hour gap between the time that her husband was told that he didn't show up for work and his first call to 911. police say her husband is fully cooperating with the investigation. now details on whitney. you see here her description. 5'2", dark hair, 120 pounds, approximately, and again there is her picture. anyone who may have seen her is asked to call the gresham police tip line. there it is at the bottom of your screen. jon. jon: lots of questions to still answer about that one. thanks. jenna: we should get ready for more fireworks on monday when the president and governor romney square off for their third and final debate. the focus will be on foreign policy and there is no shortage of national security challenges facing the next commander-in-chief.

the hot spots simmering right now span the globe, they include the fallout from the terrorist attack in benghazi, libya. the on going showdown over iran's nuclear program. the crisis in syria which threatens to spread to other countries in the middle east and the winding down of the war in afghanistan for u.s. troops. all this as a poll shows governor romney closing the gap with voters on who can best handle foreign policy. take a look at this. the president leads governor romney still, but by only 4 points. 47-43%. this marks a dramatic change from last month when the president enjoyed a 15-point lead. 53-48% -- not 48%, 38% there on your screen. what will the next president have to do? our next guest knows a thing or two about foreign policy. he has advised six secretaries are state, bi-partisan as that, including madeleine albright.

nice to have you back on the program. we know the topic, we don't know the kpwes. what do you think is the single biggest issue that the american people need to hear about on monday? >> the organizing principle of any nation's foreign policy is to protect the homeland. if you can't protect the homeland you don't need a foreign policy. that has to be a fundamental and primary concern, protect the security of the continental united states and protect our diplomatic facilities and our personnel abroad. clearly what happened in benghazi has opened up july in a pweults fo vulnerabilities, what they knew, and a muddled and mixed message. i think that is a critical and important issue. one important thing has to be made clear, it's a point of departure for everything in my judgment. i worked for democratic and republican secretary of states. i voted for democrats and republicans, the dividing line for these issues, particularly on national security shouldn't

be between left or right, hreub red light or conservative. democrat and republican. it should be between dumb and smart. and which side of the line does an american president conducting foreign policy foreign policy in a cruel world want to be on? governor romney's is a counter factual presidency. we really don't know exactly how he would cope with the challenges. i would have three unsolicited pieces of advice. number one, fix our broken house. that is the essence of our political and diplomatic power a broad is our economy and weaning ourselves away from hydrocarbons, particularly arab oil. pick your spots carefully. we don't control the world. we have crisis in syria and iran. we have to be very careful and disciplined about when we choose to project our power a broad.

and i think the final point is american leadership is absolutely critical. in today's world everybody says no to america without cost or consequence. benjamin netanyahu, karzai, the palestinians, the saudis, putin has made a professional hobby out of it. the notion of being taken seriously by the united states is critical but that means being smart and being very practical in the way we project our power. jenna: i want to pick up on the last two points you've mentioned. we've done different segments about different parts of the world. we've covered so many over the past couple of months, some of which you just mentioned. often i find in reporting on foreign policy that it's a really a boomerang segment, it's less about how we feel about that part of the world but more about how we feel as a country and our mission and duty as the united states of america. what do you think about that sense of identity right now and how that might or might not be

affecting the foreign policy in some of the regions that you just mentioned? >> most people in this country somehow don't feel intimately connected to it. no national service, we have a volunteer arm mere, military, the politicians and the military would prefer it that way. some sense of national service, some sort of program is absolutely critical. i think even broader than that, we have to figure out the right balance, because the world has changed, and it's no longer as appropriate as it was in the

past to the projection of american military power. and after, jenna, we're coming off the two longest wars in american history, and the risk to reward ratio in both of those wars, iraq and afghanistan has cost the united states in terms of thousands killed. tens of thousands wounded. trillions expenned and the loss of american credibility. jenna: what is the alternative to offer? you said military might. >> no the alternative is to maintain that option. for example we have a problem with iran which could be the most important foreign policy challenge and crisis that either a democratic or a republican president faces. three administrations have basically made it clear, including the current administration, that they will not allow iran to acquire a tpaoubg laa new lar nuclear weapon. if the iranians acquire that weapon our credibility will be

undermined and shattered. that is an issue. north korea can weight. pakistan can wait. iran is going to be a critical test of american credibility and successor failure, and in a region that is divided between migraine headaches and root canals this is the biggest challenge in my judgment that the next president will confront. jenna: we look forward to your thoughts post debate. it's a good reminder, aaron even in this season there are bigger issues confronting whoever is elected. we look forward to having you back. >> thanks, jenna, appreciate it. jon: then there is the issue of terrorism. they are out there waiting to strike us overseas and here at home. we all know elements of al-qaida are still active, but what other terror threats might be out there? our in-depth look at world-wide threats to american interests right now. plus, courting a critical voting block, one that could potentially decide who wins

november 6th. what message do women want to hear from the presidential nominees with just 19 days and counting? ♪ lovely lady. ♪ who is that lady. ♪ real fine lady

martha: "happening now", 18

days to go to the election right now, there are so many, questions, including what is the extent of organized terror threats? where are they emerging? where should we be watching. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is live in washington with more. let's first start with libya. what are we learning about the alleged commander of attack in benghazi and his group in north africa, that region of world? >> reporter: that, jenna. the leader of ansar al-sharia brigade in benghazi the libyan is described to fox as among leading suspects who command the attack on the consulate on 9/11. he is one to watch a fox told fox news who is dealing wiigation. they are identifying him as commander of the attack. fox news was told the tell against community is not

going as far but he is on the short list. his hard-line group wants to establish a islamic group or caliphate in eastern libya. we interviewed the head of the homeland security policy institute at george washington university. is north africa the new ground sear record for al qaeda? >> north africa is literally a mess. you have a islamic arc from west to east. that is huge territory. we tend to think of the whole continent from the maghreb in the north down to the horn of africa. that is becoming a safe haven for al qaeda. >> reporter: and it is from the safe haven the al qaeda affiliates are training and capitalizing on the loose weapons, especially shoulder-fired missiles after the ouster of the libyan dictator. jenna. jenna: so what does al qaeda look like today? is that still a relevant question? >> reporter: well it is. according to him there are 58 spots targeting the u.s.

some suckful including fort hood in 2009 where major nidal hasan is accused killing 13 and wounding 30 others. there is shahzad who was trained by the pakistani taliban for a plot to plant a car bomb in times square that failed. this is part of a growing body of evidence that homegrown terrorism is on the rise. >> the threat has metastasized. in some ways it is more dangerous because it is hard to get a reed and a bead on all these various actors and we've lost some allies in the region who, good, bad or indifferent they were providing intelligence to the united states. >> reporter: there is this loss of intelligence with the services in the egypt, in libya and also in tunisia that may ultimately be the most significant ramification of the arab spring for the united states, jenna. jenna: an important point we'll talk a lot more about. catherine, thank you. >> reporter: you're welcome. jon: as you probably know

they make up more than 50% of the electorate. women voters, they are the key to victory for both president obama and governor romney. the president was handily winning women's support the polls said until the first debate. now governor romney has virtually closed the gap with the president among women. meanwhile, there are questions about whether that group that the president won four years ago could be alienated by a new comments from hillary clinton. his secretary of state giving a magazine interview and saying this about women who are unhappy with the work and family choices they have made in life and feel trapped. quote, i can't stand, hillary says, whining. i can't stand the kind of paralysis that some people fall into because they're not happy with the choices they have made. you live in a time when there are endless choices. money certainly helps and having that kind of financial privilege goes a long way but you don't even have to have money for it. but you have to work on yourself. do something.

fox news contributor julie roginsky, former political advisor to democratic senator frank lautenberg of new jersey. mercedes sclapp a former spokeswoman for president george w. bush. let's get a fair and balanced debate underway. julie, are you offended what secretary clinton had to say about women and whining? >> when i first read this i was shocked. this doesn't sound like hillary clinton and she's been the biggest promoter of women. taken on face but i did research. she wasn't talking about women, she was talking about questions about the catcher in the rye, the protagonist, caulfield, who was young boy. "catcher in the rye", he thought he was a big whiner. she says she was not refering to women at all. i hope that is right, because if she was refering to women i was offended by that. it is helpful to have choices a. a lot of women are trapped.

they don't have choices. they're single moms. they're trying to make ends meet. if she was refering to women i would find that offensive. she claims she was not she claims she was refering to "catcher in the rye". jon: there was a former director of policy planning at the state department ann marie slaughter wrote a piece in the atlantic, got a lot of attention in the summer. titled why women can't have it haul. an marie slaughter said she couldn't do the high level state department job and take care of two teenage boys. she left the state department and is now a princeton university, professor. a lot of people, thought that, mercedes, that was a slap or hillary clinton was answering the column from ann marie slaughter, i'm sorry? everybody says that is not the case but this thing comes up now and it just seems a little bit too convenient. >> right. well i mean, hillary's comments came out all wrong.

it is not helpful when you're trying to raise kids, deal with the work environment, especially a days when she is saying right now there's endless choices. we know that under president obama we've seen women suffer tremendously. i mean we've seen over 500,000 more women unemployed. there is less choices for women. they're struggling every day try to figure out how they will raise their families and some of them are stuck in a low-paying job and they don't find the hope that they were looking for in terms of moving up. so i think that absolutely hillary clinton's comments were very offensive. and, regardless of, they came out, and it just doesn't help president obama. jon: julie, let me read you some more of this quote from secretary clinton. sure doesn't sound like talking about "catcher in the rye". she goes on to say in the marie claire piece, some people are not comfortable working at pace and intensity you work at in these jobs. other women don't break a

sweat. they're highly organized. they have supportive networks. that sound like women? >> to speak a larger issue of women, she is right in the following sense. i have a full-time job. i have four-month baby at home of the there is tremendous guilt leaving the baby. any woman would agree with this has to work, leaving baby at home and have to work. i'm lucky enough to be able to do that. i'm lucky enough to have the choice to do that. i don't have the choice of stay at home. some women have the financial wherewithal to stay at home with their children. others don't have that choice. some women are comfortable doing that. other women are not. i don't think it is for me, hillary clinton for any other woman to judge the choices other women make every because none of us is in the shoes of the other women. jon: the bigger picture question, mercedes, some seem to suggest, you know, abortion rights and that kind of thing are the big issue for women. it doesn't seem to be the case right now. >> i agree. i think poll after poll, you're starting to see that the economy is the big issue.

and i think that when we saw governor romney in the last debate say, we shouldn't settle. i mean women should not settle for a mediocre president. i think at this point women are looking for solutions to the economy. they're looking for their opportunities to advance in their careers and be able to find the balance between their families and their jobs. and i think that governor romney has a much better plan to help get women out of poverty. we're talking the poverty rate for women is over 16%. the record high we've seen under the past 17 years. jon: mercedes, julie, thanks. >> thank you. >> thank you. jenna: well a new report says the cia chief on the ground in libya had evidence terrorists were behind the massacre within 24 hours of the attacks. so why the blame on the intelligence community for the mixed messages of why this happened, and who was behind it? we're going to be joined by a former cia agent with his take on all this.

next month marks three years since a gunman terrorized u.s. army base, turning his gun on his fellow soldiers. however, this is still not characterized as a terror attack. we'll speak to one hero that day how this is affecting her life and the lives of so many others. music: "make someone happy" music: "make someone happy" ♪it's so important to make meone happy.♪.♪it's so e ♪make just one heart to heart you - you sing to♪ ♪one smile that cheers you ♪one face that lights when it nears you.♪ ♪and you will be happy too.

there's the sign to the bullpen. here he comes. you wouldn't want your doctor doing your job, the pitch! so why are you doing his? whoa! only your doctor can determine if your persistent heartburn is actually something more serious like acid reflux disease. over time, stomach ac can damage the lining of your esophagus. for many, prescription nexium not only provides 24-hour heartburn relief, but can also help heal acid-related erosions in the lining of your esophagus. talk to your doctor about the risk for osteoporosis-related

bone fractures and low magnesium levels with long-term use of nexium. possible side effects include headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. let your doctor do his job. and you do yours. ask if nexium is right for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. >> right now new reaction to major development of fallout because of murders of four americans on 9/11 in libya. sources tell fox news that the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi may have been part of a broader effort to drive us and our western partners out of libya. second, a new report from the associated press says that the cia station chief on the ground in libya had evidence terrorists were behind the massacre within 24 hours of the attack. that information was apparently reported back to washington well before the weekend. mike baker is former cia covert operations officer.

he is now president of diligence llc, a global intelligence and security firm. mike, what do you make of this? there is a lot of blame going toward faulty intelligence. tell us a little bit about the process. if the station chief had this information, would it reach the white house? >> absolutely. critical situation like this, the cos first responsibility after insuring the safety of all personnel possible is to, you know, begin to provide that assessment, to work with sources on the ground and develop any new contacts if possible and provide that intelligence straight back to headquarters, back to langley and you can guaranty, i can guaranty that information made it to the white house in short order and that the white house and the national security advisor were aware wear of it. jenna: let me follow up with this. fox news reporting suggested that the director of the cia, general petraeus made a presentation, a briefing what happened and seemed very wedded to the idea this

was instigated by a video. what do you make of that? is that a bad game of telephone? of the message not being communicated directly, too much bureaucracy, what? >> no i think the intelligence was relayed directly. the think about the cia it can be a very simple organization. you collect the intelligence in the field. it gets reported through the channel. there is not a lot of wash put into the mix until it hits washington. once that raw streets intelligence gets into the mix in washington that's when all the editing and all the various agendas take place and you don't know what comes out the other side. frankly what came out of the other side i think, i believe, was a choice made by the white house to ignore or, basically just set aside the intelligence pointing to a planned, coordinated terrorist attack because it did not fit their agenda, didn't fit their agenda they went out with immediately it was spontaneous generation resulting from outrage over a video. jenna: you know the reasons they suggest that the messaging was varied at

times. one of the things that was suggested by the secretary of state there is the fog of war. there is early conflicting accounts. we're sorting through it. what do you make of their reasoning for that, that explanation? >> there may have been fog of war, and yes, it's true there is period of time you have to be very careful not to speculate but you also have to use common sense and logic and logic would tell you given the pattern of the attack, given the attack there was no protest for this to spring out of at the time, given the fact you're operating in a war zone with known al qaeda sympathizers and elements there over years, at this point, they have been sending foreign fighters into iraq from eastern libya for years, i think, yes there is fog of war but there didn't seem to be any fog over the narrative coming out of the white house from day one when all they could do was apologize for the video and try to avoid saying this was somehow a terrorist attack. jenna: i have a quick final question for you and i will have to come back after a commercial break but here's what i want to discuss.

this administration has certainly taken a lot of heat for intelligence leaks and putting out the wrong information, specifically when it came to the bin laden raid. what should the public know, when should we know it, what is best for the country. we'll talk about that right after the commercial break, mike, thank you i'm so glad you called. thank you. we're not in london, are we? no. why? apparently my debit card is. what? i know. don't worry, we have cancelled your old card. great. thank you. in addition to us monitoring your accounts for unusual activity,

you could also set up free account alerts. okay. [ female announcer ] at wells fargo we're working around the clock to help protect your money and financial information. here's your temporary card. welcome back. how was london? [ female announcer ] wells fargo. together we'll go far.

jenna: back with us now, mike baker, former cia covert operations officer. and, mike, we're continuing the conversation about what the public's expectation should be when an event like this happens? when should we know the full story and how much intelligence should we know? >> well, you have raised several really important points here and i'm also glad you raised that question about the intel leaks. and by the way that intel leaks investigation, who knows where that has gone. but that is critical issue that seems to be pushed aside. i think there is a couple

points here and they don't necessarily mesh together well. first of all it is important to understand in the u.s. the intel organizations, the intel community, cia in particular, we have the most transparent intel services in the world. i mean, and i, speak knowing, you know, what people who believe in conspiracy theories are going to think, that's ridiculous but we really do have a process here. it is not bike the beach books or films. there is great check and balance goes on regardless what administration is in power. there is also a need to keep your yap shut on occasion. there is certain information, quite frankly, i'm biased the public doesn't need to know, sources and methods, operational concerns. you sign up to these agreements when you take responsibility for working in these organizations, and at that point you're saying you're going to keep your pie hole corked and you will not reveal these secrets. we've seemed to have gotten away from that. i understand the media's responsibility to try to

ferret out information. i think it is responsibility for those that work in these organizations to honor their commitments. jenna: so in this situation would be better the public didn't know anything, didn't have the sunday show interviews until a week later, 10 days later if the information wasn't necessarily accurate? >> well i think certainly if the information is not accurate it serves the public's interest to be straight with them and to not spin your story for political reasons. i see no other reason for the white house to come out with this narrative from the outset and trying to walk it back in various ways and who they can throw under the bus and account for this and deflect from the president. i see no other reason for political concerns over the upcoming election. so i think, yes, the public deserves a very straightforward story, but you have to be careful how much information you release because lives are at stake. jenna: sure. absolutely. we certainly learned that, that lesson in a very, very tough way. mike, always great to have you. look forward to having you back to talk more about this.

thank you. >> thank you. jon: so 18 days to go before the election with just little wiggle room left when it comes to staying on the right track. coming up we'll look at which nominee won the week. plus the latest developments in the growing national meningitis outbreak. another death reported. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare?

that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral to see a specialist. join the millions

who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. jon: sergeant kimberly munley exchanged gunfire with the fort hood shooter taking three bullets in the process. what she thinks about the push to have the murders labeled as a terrorist attack. with the country's highest unemployment rate and sky high bankruptcy rates, both candidates making a big push for the swing state of nevada. what they need to do to seal the deal there. and with the final presidential debate on monday, many are still talking about the moderator in the last one. how will her involvement shape

the final showdown before the election? jenna: well, it is certainly full steam ahead for the candidates as the 2012 campaign heads into the final weeks before the election. we're almost there. welcome to "happening now," everybody. we're glad you're with us, i'm jenna lee. jon: and we're glad it's friday, too. i'm jon scott. the race for the white house now entering its final phase and with poll numbers getting tighter, it is all about the swing states. president obama campaigning in virginia today, 13 electoral votes up for grabs there. his running mate is making the rounds in florida. governor romney and congressman ryan also in florida where 29 electoral votes are on the line. john roberts is live in fox central with us now. >> reporter: hey, good afternoon, jon. well, it's obviously going to be a topic at monday's debate on foreign policy. the romney campaign for the moment has put aside talk about benghazi and the consulate attack there in favor of the

economy. the campaign says while benghazi is an important issue, what's moving voters is the economy. the president has just touched down -- well, actually drove out from washington -- at george mason university as the romney campaign attacks him on a lack of agenda for his second term. listen to what congressman paul ryan said in florida. >> president obama has not even made his case for a second term. you've seen all these debates, he's not even telling americans what he's going to do to make things better. all he's offering is four more years like the last four years, more of the same. >> reporter: and when it comes to the economic argument, it appeared governor romney got a little bit of help yesterday from president clinton who said this about the economy at a question that was asked at the dedebate on tuesday. >> governor romney's argument is we're not fixed, so fire him and put me in. it is true we're not fixed. when president obama looked into

the eyes of that man who said in the debate i had so much hope four years ago, and i don't now, i thought he was going to cry. because he knows that it's not fixed. >> reporter: now, clinton went on to say the big question is whose plan do you trust? he prefers president obama's plan, but it didn't take but for a few minutes for the republican national committee using bill clinton's statement as a centerpiece. jon: and there are some big newspaper endorsements just out for governor romney, i understand. >> reporter: there are. the orlando sentinel, that's a big move because they endorsed president obama in 2008, but perhaps the bigger one is the tennessean newspaper in nashville which has endorsed every democratic candidate for president in 1972 came out in favor of romney because of this, the economy. quote:

>> reporter: you know, that doesn't really mean a whole lot in tennessee, rather, which is expected to go for governor romney, but it's a sign that people are losing confidence in the president. and as we go back to the president here at george mason university, we should note a new rasmussen poll shows governor romney ahead by three points and touching that magic 50% mark now, jon. jon: and we'll be asking who won the week, these two candidates, coming up. john roberts in many our newsroom, thank you. jenna: you just saw the president holding an event in virginia, and his campaign apparently is putting new focus on social issues just 18 days from the election. doug mckelway is live at the white house with more on this. doug, we actually had a reporter from new hampshire this week say he really saw happen in the state of new hampshire. democrats really focusing on social issues. how is this turn working for the

obama campaign? >> reporter: well, jenna, face it, the number one issue facing americans is the economy, but that is an issue upon which the president is very, very vulnerable. that is the reason, many analysts say, that the obama campaign is now turning to these social issues, and key among them, of course, is the so-called war on women. a linchpin of the so of called war on women is the right to abortion. it's one of the reasons that at that campaign rally at george may john university in suburban virginia, he has chosen to introduce him cecile richards of planned parenthood, and it is no coincidence she is also being featured in a new web ad released by the campaign today. here's a little bit of that. >> since day one president obama has stood with women. the very first bill he signed was the lily ledbetter fair pay act allowing us to make sure that women get equal pay to men. and under the affordable care act, he's expanded health care

coverage to millions of american women. of course, mitt romney is threatening to take us back 40 years. >> reporter: the trouble with that line of attack, it gives the romney campaign a chance to defend its record with women, and we saw that in the debate when he pointed out he had a record of hiring women at a top level. here's carrie healey, the former lieutenant governor of massachusetts. >> this is so ironic, because it's given us an opportunity to talk about one of the great strengths of governor romney during his time in office which is that he did want to bring women's voices into government, that he did have half of the women in appointed positions. his chief of staff was a woman, obviously, he asked me to run with him. >> reporter: and since this focus on social issues, romney surrogates have been defending his record with women with great effect, one of them just the other day told andrea mitchell we know the guys here at this

network are paid more than the women, to which she replied, yes, we do. meaning she understood that. also suggestions that men at the white house are paid more than the women are. so the obama campaign very vulnerable in that respect if they choose to fight that line of attack. jenna: we'll see how big of an issue it is come voting day. doug, thank you. jon: another issue, foreign policy. it'll be front and center, the topic of the third and final presidential debate on monday in florida. with all the world hot spots, including libya, this debate could be a game changer. senior white house foreign affairs correspondent wendell goler live at the state department for us now. >> reporter: governor romney's likely to accuse the president of not being tough enough on iran to keep it from developing a nuclear weapon and not being supportive enough of israel or the rebels trying to overthrow syrian leader bashar al assad. the president likely to ask governor romney specifically what he would do differently and

may ask him to say if he's ready to go to iran, he should tell that to a war-weary american public. in their debate tuesday night, romney said the president has squandered america's leadership, especially in the middle east. >> we have iran four years closer to a nuclear bomb, syria. syria's not just the tragedy of 30,000 civilians being killed by a military, but also a strategic, strategically-significant player for america. the president's policies throughout the middle east began with an apology tour and pursue a strategy of leading from behind x this strategy's unraffling before our very eyes. >> reporter: romney also accused the president of being slow to admit the terrorist attack in benghazi, libya, that claimed the lives of ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. mr. romney says he called it a terror attack the next day even while some aides were blaming a protest of an anti-islam movie. the president is likely to say he delivered on the foreign policy promises he made as a candidate in the 2008.

>> four years ago i told you we'd end the war in iraq, and i did. i said we'd end the war in afghanistan, and can we are. i said we'd focus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and we have, and bin laden is dead. >> reporter: aaron david miller, the vice president of the woodrow wilson institute who was on our air within the past hour, says we're stuck in a middle east we can't fix or leave. he says our choices are divided between migraines and root canals. he says each president or -- each candidate, pardon me, should assert how they would reestablish american leadership in that region. jon? jon: wendell goler at the state department for us, thank you. jenna: well, certainly a loot of ups and downs for everybody, and can now we have this other debate that just happened this week, another one coming up next week, you have a new torrent of ads, lingering questions about libya. who won this week as we edge closer to voting day? we're going to score that. plus, victims of the fort hood shooting are pushing for

the goth to reclassify the -- the government to reclassify the rampage as an act of terror. now there's a new video demanding justice. we're going to speak live with one of the heroes of the attacks trying to take down the alleged shooter about new movement. we'll see why they're doing this and what she wants to get out of it coming up here on "happening now." people have doubts about taking aspirin for pain. but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer.

♪ jon: we are down to the final weeks of the presidential campaign. barack obama trying to win a second term, mitt romney going very much up against him. so who won the week? is be let's ask bob beckel, co-host of "the five" and a former democratic campaign manager. we usually have ed rollins to debate him. ed's stuck in an airport

someplace, a lot of bad weather. a lot of bad weather around the country today. but we did have a week a couple of weeks ago, when ed was here by himself, so turn about is fair play. >> that's right. jon: first of all, it has been a monumental week in terms of developments. >> huge, huge week. yeah. i think as i look at it, you've got to give obama an edge on the debate. it was not a complete blowout, but it was a good debate. on the other hand, romney's poll numbers continue to go up, so on balance i would say that it was a wash. i would say it was an equal week. and, now, my democratic friends don't agree with that, they think because of the debate, obama won, but there was a structural change that took place in that first debate that has not yet been unstructured. jon: the gallup poll, the daily tracking poll shows mitt romney up 52% to 45% for president obama. you're an ex-campaign manager. do you look at that number as particularly troublesome as a democrat, or are you looking for

at the -- looking more at the individual states? >> no, it would trouble me. i would look at -- and it would reflect some movement in the individual states. the weekend before two weeks out of a presidential campaign you sit down, five or six of you, and make decisions which states are we going to play for, which ones are we not. we're going to pull our resources out of one state. for example, i believe the obama people will pull out of north carolina, and they are going to concentrate on virginia. the pennsylvania state was never in play, and then all of a sudden there was some polling data that showed that romney had a chance there, so romney's moved people into there now. if he wins pennsylvania, though, it's all over. it's impossible for me to imagine how any democrat could not win pennsylvania and win the presidency. remember, most of this gallup poll was taken before the second debate. jon: the libya question, obviously, was a central part of the debate, and it's going to be the focus probably of this

upcoming one because it's all about foreign policy. >> are right. jon: how much is that issue hurting the president, do you think? >> well, i think coupled with the structural change where obama -- i mean, where romney, when romney got on that stage in the first debate after he'd been beat up in the primary, beat up by obama, he appeared to be a sort of nice, solid guy, and it went against stereotype, so he exceeded expectations. jon: stereotypes or the democratic advertising in the attack ads? >> stereotypes what they are, jon, we try to set stereotypes. so he made that pass, and he became sort of a safe candidate as people saw him. but now it's foreign policy, and he will concentrate on libya, i'm sure. obama will have good answers on libya, but then you start working around the rest of the globe, and bob schieffer will do that, mitt romney has no or very little experience worldwide. i guess it's favor obama. jon: it's worth pointing out when president obama took office, he didn't have a great deal of foreign policy

experience either. that's what joe biden was supposed to bring -- >> this campaign was not about foreign policy issues. if it had been, it would have been advantage obama. the disadvantage now is you've got this libya thing with all kinds of stories about who said what to when, with people using words like "conspiracy" and lies," which is ridiculous. that's another reason why i give it a tie week. that debate for obama was very good. jon: president obama had a huge lead among women, and now it's down to, essentially, a tie or maybe a one-point spread. are you surprised by that? >> i'm a little surprised, but i think that also comes off of the bounce of the first debate. and i think women looked at romney and said not a bad guy, i probably could live with him. and they're suffering, a lot of women -- suburban women in particular -- from the economy. the economy now has come back in rather late in this campaign for

something that was supposed to dominate the whole campaign, if we remember. but in the last two or three months, it's had little play. jon: and, again, you say the week was essentially a draw. >> gotcha. i think that's fair and balanced. jon: bob beckel is co-host of "the five." jenna: we'll see if he's like that on "the five" today. jon: he'll be a little more rapid. [laughter] jenna: nevada could be key in a tight presidential race, was ea know. who's winning the silver state? what the latest polls show. plus, a grinding civil war in syria and the concerns the conflict may have already spread beyond that country's border. a live report next.

♪ jenna: well, right now the battle for the swing states becomes ever important now that we're 18 days away from the election, and we have some brand new numbers on the economy. today we received the state unemployment rates. we get the nationals early in the month, and then each state turns in theirs a couple weeks later. and it's important to note that 22 states have higher unemployment rates than the national average including many swing states, nevada is one of 'em. check out the unemployment rate in the state of nevada,11.8% still. in fact, for the last 31 consecutive months it has had the highest unemployment rates this the country. a few of the things we want to show you when it comes to the economy in nevada, gas prices higher than the national average, when you look at foreclosures as well, in the top five of the country. so the economy certainly front

and center in nevada. the president spending a little time there, remember he did debate prep in nevada for the debate in colorado. but check out the poll numbers. even though the economy looks the way it does in nevada, you can see the president is ahead of mitt romney according to the real clear politics average by about three points. elizabeth crumb is the publisher and editor of the nevada news bureau, she co-anchors "the agenda" on ksnv-tv in las vegas. what other issues are affecting voters in nevada if it's not just the economy? >> jenna, that's a great question. if you look at the political mailers that have been hitting mailboxes here across the state over the past couple weeks, it's women's issues, also some immigration issues there, that's a hat tip, of course, to the hispanics. and then just sort of going after the republicans and mitt romney in particular on the same thing we've heard from the democrats which is that they're out of touch, kind of this class

warfare approach talking about the middle class. and i think that does sell pretty well here in nevada with those demographics. jenna: and so how effective are the ground games by either campaign? >> that's a great question. the democrats have done a great job here over the past couple months. voter registration, in fact, last time i spoke with you guys the statewide advantage for the democrats was about 70,000. that's up to 90,000 now, democratic advantage in nevada. that's going to be difficult for the gop to overcome even if they do a great job of turnout on election day. so in terms of voter registration, advantage to the democrats. of course, it all comes down to turnout on election day. jenna: it certainly does, and we're reminded of that day after day. early voting starts tomorrow in nevada, doesn't it? >> yes, it sure does. we'll have two weeks of early voting, both parties will be doing everything they can, of course, to turn out voters.

right here in clark county where about 70% of the electorate lives, we'll be real interested on election night to watch those early vote returns come back. if the democrats can turn out those numbers in clark county that they registered, i think it's looking pretty good here for president obama and some of the down ticket democrats. jenna: interesting. very important reporting that you have done about unemployment in the state, and although we showed that higher number, one of the things that you point out is that it has come down even though nevada continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the country, the trend is better. are people feeling better about the economy? is that a plus for the president despite some of the numbers and statistics that we just showed our viewers? >> look, the improvement has been slow, it's been gradual, but you've got a republican governor here in nevada, governor sandoval, who each time a jobs report comes out and the numbers are just a teeny bit better talks about how he's encouraged about how the state is moving in the right

direction. that may be a positive and optimistic message from the governor for his constituents, that's not necessarily helpful to the republicans in their message that president obama hasn't done anything to help the economy. so these little teeny ticks and the fact that today we dropped from 12.1 to under 12, in the high 11s now, may have a psychological impact on voters. jenna: that's an interesting point, and we appreciate you making time for us today, elizabeth, and look forward to having you back. >> thanks,. >>men that. jon: victims of the fort hood shooting are demanding justice nearly three years after 13 people were killed. they say the government will not call that tragedy what they believe it is, a terrorist act. we'll speak live with one hero of the attack who was shot three times and stayed on her feet charging the accused gunman. plus, possible consequences in that deadly nationwide meningitis outbreak. why some pharmacy company

officers could be in real trouble. [ male announcer ] when these come together, and these come together, one thing you can depend on is that these will come together. delicious and wholesome. some combinations were just meant to be. tomato soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. then you may be looking for help in choosing the right plan for your needs. so don't wait. call now. whatever your health coverage needs, unitedhealthcare can help you find the right plan. open enrollment to choose your medicare coverage begins october 15th and ends december 7th. so now is the best time to review your options

and enroll in a plan. medicare has two main parts, parts a and b, to help cover a lot of your expenses, like hospital care... and doctor visits. but they still won't cover all of your costs. now's the time to learn about unitedhealthcare plans that may be right for you. are you looking for something nice and easy? like a single plan that combines medicare parts a & b with prescription drug coverage? a medicare advantage plan can give you doctor, hospital and prescription drug coverage all in one plan... for nothing more than what you already pay for part b. you'll also have the flexibility to change doctors from a network of providers dedicated to helping you stay healthy. plus with the pharmacy saver program, you can get prescriptions for as low as $2 at thousands of pharmacies in retail locations like these, all across the country. call now to learn more. unitedhealthcare has the information you need

so you'll be better prepared when making medicare decisions. maybe you'd just like help paying for your prescriptions. consider a part d prescription drug plan. it may help reduce the cost of your prescription drugs. with over 30 years of medicare experience, unitedhealthcare has been helping people live healthier lives. remember, open enrollment ends friday, december 7th. we can help. call unitedhealthcare to learn about medicare plans that may be right for you. call now. ♪

jenna: a fox news alert, new violation in the middle east today. first, more fighting in the civil war in syria and some brand new amateur video posted online showing parts of damascus wrecked by government air strikes. leland vittert is live in our

jerusalem bureau with more. >> reporter: this certainly doesn't look good for that proposed cease fire in the syrian civil war that would start next friday for the muslim holiday. neither side seems willing to end the violence, and we're seeing that violence getting closer and closer to president assad's power base there inside of damascus, and you cannot take away from this anything but the human toll that is being caused by this civil war as there are a number of civilians caught in the cross fire. the air strikes coming by these government troops do show that the rebels are still unable to launch attacks outside of where they are head quartered and into the major government areas they're still doing street-to-street kind of fighting. on the other hand, it also shows that the government is needing to use these air strike against rebel-held areas that they have lost control over. neither side seems to be able to make a major push in this civil war. the major development also today coming out of lebanon where the

scene looked oddly and eerily similar. ten people dead in a car bomb in beirut. one of the dead is a senior leader in the lebanese intelligence service and had recently been involved in targeting a pro-assad person there operating inside of lebanon. the latest suspect, primary suspect number one in this bombing inside beirut that has left at least 80 people injured is going to be the militant group hezbollah which is supported by iran which also has close ties to the syrian regime there and has supported the syrian regime for a long time. what we're seeing now, jenna, is very uncomfortable and not-o-shocking trend of the violence in syria spreading across the borders. first we saw it into turkey, now we are seeing it into lebanon, and lebanon is a tinderbox. that country has seen its own civil wars and while something

like this, you have a bombing in beirut, begins things, it may well end with another civil war this time also in lebanon. jenna: disturbing video yet again of another little child being held up, obviously, a victim of the latest rounds of attack in syria. leland, thank you. we'll continue to watch it. jon: now, this fox news alert. new developments in the deadly nationwide meningitis outbreak that so far has killed 20 people. a new lawsuit targets company officers at the pharmacy that produced the contaminated steroids behind this whole outbreak. elizabeth prann is live in atlanta for us now. >> reporter: hey, jon. many of the people who did receive those tainted injections and already did get sick we know have hired attorneys and filed a lawsuit against demand compounding center -- new england compounding center, but there's a legal move to go after the personal assets of any of cc's corporate officers. reuters is reporting that a civil case has been filed in massachusetts which would seek

damages from the personal property of those who ran the company. this as the infection continues to spread across 16 states infecting more than 250 people. now, doctors are stressing that early diagnosis is vital, but they're not jumping to treat patients early. they tell us that preemptive treatment could do more harm than good. antifungal treatments require very long hospital stays because the drugs come with their own risks and can their own toxic side effects. >> the most common side effects have to do with damage to kidney function and liver funk. function. so both have to be monitored very, very carefully with frequent doctor visits. >> reporter: now, most patients are not getting sick who have received the shots, but if you have any symptoms like fever, nausea or stiffness of neck, contact your doctor immediately. jon? jon: this thing just keeps growing, so sad. elizabeth prann, thank you. jenna: right now the fort hood shooting massacre and an update on that.

survivors of the deadly attack and the families of the 13 people killed want the government to call the mass shooting a terrorist attack. this is something we've talked about for three years now, but something new, brand new today. these victims, their families, their support group releasing a brand new video to make their case. >> the army knew he was in contact, the fbi knew he was in contact all the way from 2005 up to the shooting. he had e-mail messages and conversations. they knew he was in contact with 'em, and they did nothing. jenna: well, the government classifies the fort hood massacre as workplace violence, and that means that survivors are ineligible for the purple heart, and the families of those who lost their lives are not receiving the same benefits, the same care as the families of those killed in combat. joining us now, a true hero who helped to prevent what could have been an even bigger

massacre. kelly munley, she herself was shot three times, hit in both regular legs and her wrist during this gunfight, but she was able to help bring the gunman down and prevented, obviously, the loss of many other lives. kimberly, it's nice to have you on the phone with us, how are you doing? >> i'm doing well, thanks. jenna: tell us about why this is important for you. >> this is very personal and important to me to, hopefully, push the reclassification to a terrorist attack. it'll also award the military victims, deceased and still living, a slew of other benefits that they are not receiving at this time. jenna: kimberly, you're not part -- a member of the military. would the distinction mean something for you as well? >> just the personal satisfaction and just, um, establish my faith in the government and our homeland security. jenna: how does it make you feel

that you have to fight for this? >> um, it makes me feel horrible. we shouldn't have to. shouldn't have to put such an effort, and we're not going to give up physical we're successful. jenna: so what's been the response over the past coupling years? >> nothing, absolutely nothing. our pleas, our letters from representatives sporting us, we've had no response whatsoever. jenna: and how do you make sense of that? >> i do not. i cannot, and that's what we're seeking. jenna: tell us a little bit about your injuries and your recovery, just on the personal side. what's the last three years been like for you? >> well, it's been tough as with anyone who's been subjected to something so terrible. i've had to make adjustments, and i've made them well. i also try to counsel some of the, you know, victims that i'm good friends with, and that helps me as well. jenna: and based on your understanding of what this would take, what it would take to make this a terror attack rather than workplace violence, who do you

need to get to? who would be the person that would make this change for all of you? >> well, first we have to get our senators and our representatives onboard to support this as senator mccall and senator carter, and, um, to write letters to the congress requesting and demanding it to be changed and reclassified. so we have to start from there. we have put out the video for awareness for people who forgot about the fort hood and forgot how we are being treated right now. you can go to truthaboutforthood.com, and you've got video which is very intense. jenna: and besides doing the video, how else can the public help? >> they can write, like i said, their congressmen and their senators and request and demand that it be reclassified and, therefore, if they can get their support, those representatives and senators can go to congress and demand the same. jenna: it must be quite an education for your children, isn't it, kimberly, having gone through this event and watched their mom? >> yes, it has been. but we adjust well.

jenna: well, we're wishing you the best of luck, and we look forward to checking in with you. certainly not going to forget the story, and we appreciate the time today very much. thank you for sharing your story with us. >> thank you very much. jon: she is a real hero. well, call it the candy effect. debate moderator candy crowley giving president obama a big assist on libya in tuesday's debate. how will this effect the next and final debate? our news watch panel weighs in with their thoughts. plus, a dark milestone. it was 25 years ago today the dow saw its biggest one-day drop ever. our own eric shawn reported on what will be forever known as black monday. >> reporter: some analysts think the market will go down even further in the morning before rallying by the closing bell or on tuesday, but it seems with this big drop wall street has acknowledged what the rest of the country already knows; that the recession is not letting up x there's no sign of a recovery soon.

jon: eric shawn 25 years ago. could it happen again? how we avoid another black monday. ben stein will be along with his thoughts. [ male announcer ] humana and walmart have teamed up

to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪ with a low national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on your medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go twalmart.com forails.

♪ walk like an egyptian, walk like an egyptian. jenna: well, our next guest says that was a great song, that's "walk like an egyptian," it was the number one song of the year back in 1987, and is on this very week the number one movie in the box office, "fatal attraction." remember that? jon: oh, that was scary. [laughter] jenna: and on in the day 25 years ago, the stock market nose dived nearly 23% forcing regulators to stop trading. it came to be known as black monday. a similar drop today, a percentage drop like that would mean a hit of more than 3,000 points in one day.

so how do we avoid another black monday? what's changed since then? author of the new book "how to really ruin your financial life and portfolio," economist ben stein is joining us now. appropriate title for this segment, ben. so what have we learned since 1987? >> well, we learned that that crash was not really indicative of a collapse of the economy, it was a micro-phenomenon as we say. it has to do with a thing called portfolio insurance which meant people thought they were insuring their portfolios by selling futures representing index of stocks that immediately would cash people out so even if the market crashed, they would be fine. it didn't work at all, and, in fact, it set up a cascading effect, very, very bad domino effect in which people would sell the futures, the cash would then be sold "news of the world" to make money on the ash -- in order to make money on the arbitrage. jenna: it sounds complicated. >> it is very complicated.

the portfolio insurance just made things incredibly worse -- jenna: so do we have that now? >> no. we have every financial instrument you can think of now, but we also have a lot of hedges on the oh side -- other side. at that point in the '87 the downside was much worse, now we have hedges on the downside and the up side -- jenna: and both can make things worse? >> actually, no. [laughter] jenna: that's what i want to talk to you about. one of the things we see in the stock market today is stocks are not too far away from the highs we saw pre-crisis. >> the fact that it's at a high does not mean -- jenna: well, does it mean things are better in the economy? >> it means the federal reserve has pumped up the stock market and the bond market. the stock market, at least to my way of thinking, is overpriced. but with all due respect to everybody who thinks they can predict the stock market, those people and i cannot. but the market is very, very high.

jenna: apparently, you can predict how we can ruin -- >> yes. you can do it by trying to pick stocks, not matching assets with liabilities, you can do it by playing with things you don't understand like commodities or futures. you could do it by listening to advice at the country club about stocks. jenna: but some people say, listen, one of the things the crisis showed is you can't just throw stocks into the computer, you have to have some sort of management of your own funds and not blindly leave it to somebody else. >> no, you don't. you just buy the index. i don't get any money from vanguard or fidelity, so go there, buy their index funds, the broadest possible index, set it and forget it. don't pay attention to it until your grandchildren ask you for it. [laughter] jenna: do you give it to them if they ask for it? >> no. jenna: okay, just checking. what do you think the next crash looks like? >> well, i don't know, but i think -- once the federal reserve has to unwind its incredible amount of bond

purchases, there's going to be some severe adjusting in all the markets of this country. that will happen at some point. when, i do not know. no one can predict when the next crash or bubble will be. these things defy human understanding. but patience and staying in the game as long as you can and just patiently buying broad indexes generally has enormous payoffs. jenna: i have a quick final question because you've got a lot of big ideas. >> well, some, yes. jenna: do you think we have any bold new ideas in this country when it comes to job growth? is there anything that makes you excited at all? >> no, not at all. jenna: how do you keep on going, ben? >> well, i have my job. i have into torte my family and -- support my family and the great people depend on me. i just keep working and working and work, and someday i'll collapse while i'm sitting at the microphone, i hope, talking to you. jenna: that would really make news, but i hope you're around for a long time because i don't know what i would do. you feel okay today? >> i feel great.

jenna: and you've taught us how to not ruin our financial lives. >> well, i hope so. thank you so much. jenna: jon? jon: pay attention to ben stein. new questions about the final presidential debate amidlingerring fallout over the moderator of the second debate. will candy crowley's performance have an impact on the moderator of the next one? we'll get into it with our news watch panel. ♪ [ female announcer ] e-trade was founded on the simple belief that bringing you better technology helps make you a better investor. with our revolutionary e-trade 360 dashboard you see exactly where your money is and what it's doing live. our e-trade pro platform offers powerful functionality that's still so usable you'll actually use it. and our mobile apps are the ultimate in wherever whenever investing. no matter what kind of investor you are, you'll find the technology to help you become a better one

at e-trade. begins with back pain and a choice. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve, which can relieve pain all day with just two pills. good eye. your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes.

jon: right now pram ma and governor romney are looking ahead to their final debate. so is the moderator, bob schieffer of cbs. but after the last debate everyone is wondering how will schieffer handle this grand finale? he is certainly aware of the uproar caused by candy crowley

of cnn who chose to jump into the second debate with her own controversy. >> let me, let me call it an act -- >> can you say that a little louder, candy? [laughter] [applause] >> he did call it an act of terror. it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a riot out there about this tape to come out, you're correct about that. jon: well, joining us now on our news watch panel, judith miller, pulitzer prize-winning reporter, kirsten powers is a columnist for the daily beast, both are fox news contributors. the president really didn't call it an act of terror, but most people have read that transcript or heard the replay of the rose garden sound bite. they can decide for themselves whether he said it or whether he didn't, but, judy, does this effect bob schieffer's performance? i mean, does he jump in with both feet to this debate in the same way that candy crowley

does, or does he leave very much alone? >> well, i think that he's going to be very aware the criticism, jon, of both the first moderator who was described, jim lehrer, as a potted plant, and the last moderator, the second moderator -- the third, actually, candy crowley, who was -- she designated herself as the kind of instant fact checker in chief and turned out to be wrong. so he's got to really chart a course in between these two. bob schieffer's one of the most experienced foreign policy experts when it comes to anchors that i know of, and i think he's not only going to be wearing a suit of armor, i think he's going to be very, very careful about how he phrases the questions and strive very, very hard to appear fair and unbalanced. jon: well, it's not his first reed owe, kirsten -- rodeo, kirsten, he's done a couple of these presidential debates before. >> yeah.

i totally agree with what judy said. he's going to look at these past two debates to see what the outcry has been and, hopefully, reach some sort of middle ground. in the end, i liked jim lehrer's approach because i like to see the candidates go at each other, and when candy crowley did let them do that, i liked that aspect. i don't have that much of an issue other than her taking sides in a disagreement. she should have let it play out between the two of them, but i think it's great as judy highlighted that you have somebody as a foreign policy expert who's going to be able to, hopefully, let them have the argument they started to have on libya and really let it play out. jon: and, all right, it seemed, judith, that you felt crowley really had her thumb on the scale on the president's behalf in that one. >> it was clear that she did. i mean, it had that impact. if you look at the first half of the debate before her intervention, governor romney is really making great gains

rhetorically, and he was confident, he was on solid ground with the economy. then she intervenes, and he suddenly was off his game. he had been challenged on a factual issue, he didn't have the transcript in front of him, and for the rest of the debate he was really more hesitant, and president obama was more assertive. any fair-minded person who looks at what happened there has to say that she influenced the way if which a lot of people perceive the victor in that debate. jon: does this -- >> well -- jon: -- go ahead, kirsten. >> i was going to say, i think i'm a fair-minded person. i don't totally buy that argument. i know that's one that's been put forth. but, look, mitt romney should have been able to push back at what she said. he should have been able to say even if the president referred to acts of terror in the transcript, he should have just turned to the president and said, so are you saying it was an act of terror? i don't understand why he was so flustered by this and so thrown

off by what she did. jon: well, he did say that, and the president didn't seem to have an answer -- >> exactly. jon: he said, "please, proceed, governor." >> exactly. you shouldn't be able to be thrown off by a moderator. i don't think that that's, you know, i don't understand that. >> i don't think he would have been, kirsten, if it hadn't have been on foreign policy, an area where he doesn't feel the kind of confidence that he exhibits on economic issues. jon: what about the format, town hall format, real quickly? is it going to be, you know, used in future debates, do you think? >> well, on this i'm going to agree with kirsten. i liked it. i liked the back and forth, and i liked them standing up. jon: kirsten? >> yeah, there's always a town hall. i can't imagine that we'll stop having them, and i think that they are effective. i prefer to watch them go against each other, but it's sort of standard campaign fare. jon: we'll see what bob

schieffer brings to the table. thanks, to you both, judy and kirsten, and we'll be rightogre back. dium soup says it mahelp lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just he to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

to compete on the global stage. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university, we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone is ready with the know-how we need for a new tomorrow. [ male announcer ] make sure america's ready. make sure you're ready. at devry.edu/knowhow. ♪

jenna: big weekend ahead. jon: you want to tell the folks what you're up to. jenna: jon scott said he might come and do it with me. jon: some time. 12 miles in the mud. should be fun. jenna: photos on monday. have a good weekend, everybody. jon: "america live" starts right now. megyn: fox news alert from the campaign trail with a little more than 72 hours until the final presidential debate, and a new pew poll raises the stakes for the big face off on monday. welcome to "america live," i'm megyn kelly. 72 hours we will be broadcasting live from the site of the final presidential debate in boca raton, florida. the pew research center releases a new poll showing governor mitt romney slowing a huge gap over the past